


Bluffing

by Gammarad



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Gen, Poker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 04:09:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20808287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gammarad/pseuds/Gammarad
Summary: Once when Lucifer was babysitting Trixie, he taught her to play poker





	Bluffing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cookiegirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookiegirl/gifts).

He shuffled the deck, purposely not paying attention to which cards went where. Then he dovetailed them once more and flipped five cards in front of himself, five to Trixie.

"Look at your cards. No, don't -- Never show your hand to your opponent."

"They're just pictures," Trixie complained. "Except this one's a one."

"The pictures are worth the most. Especially if they have the same letter. In this case, you would want to bet several chips on this hand."

Before long, Trixie had learned the basics; how to hold her cards, how to call and raise, that a straight beat three of a kind.

She was also a natural at bluffing. Her gift seemed to be excitement about hands that were entirely worthless. She looked thrilled when she got a four of hearts, a ten of hearts, a jack of diamonds, a queen of diamonds, and the ace of clubs. 

So thrilled that Lucifer had folded when she bet on it, and he had not even minded when she laughed at his reaction to seeing what she'd held. 

That laugh reminded him of a time very long past, when a girl her age ...

    Children in hell were a phenomenon Lucifer had always found uncomfortable as well as challenging to properly handle. It happened often enough, a child who believed punishment was deserved, dying young, the spirit arriving as spirits did -- early on, he had found them good material for new demons. Young and malleable. There had been little _reason_ not to. After a while, he had been able to delegate such tasks.  
  
The child he now remembered had come early, had endured to become one of those, in fact, to whom he had sent new young arrivals. She had chosen to bear the face of the beast that had killed her - some sort of cat, with sharp teeth that the girl had exaggerated into fangs for herself to wear. So he had called her Leviyah, lioness, and taught her to control, to punish, to defend herself from the other demons, and much else besides. Finally when she had shown the aptitude he had taught her to teach.  
  
And once, when Lucifer was giving Leviyah a lesson in bluffing -- how, without a lie, to make herself seem larger or more frightening or more willing to fight to the end -- she had laughed at her ability to trick even him, the one who was teaching her, just as Trixie laughed now.

... and he stopped, put his cards down. 

By this time, Chloe should have returned. "This has been a fun distraction, but I have better things to do. So do you," he added when he saw Trixie about to protest.

"What better things?"

"You could go play in traffic?" Lucifer gave her a sly look. "With extra poker lessons if you catch a bumper." 

Trixie glared. "Don't be mean."

"Well, it was worth a try." Lucifer brushed imaginary crumbs off his lapels and thighs.

He put away the chips first. He was picking up the cards and Trixie was brushing her teeth when the Detective unlocked the door and entered. 

...

A few days later, Lucifer saw that his lesson had been taken to heart. Left to her own devices at the precinct while he and the Detective went to see the latest body, Trixie had managed to win quite a haul for such a young human. 

Dan the Douche looked sheepish. "I'll make her give it all back," he said apologetically to Chloe, gesturing to the messy pile of ones and quarters in front of their daughter. 

Trixie made a wordless sound of protest. 

"That's all right," Ella said, "let her keep it." 

Chloe shook her head frantically but Ella ignored it.

Lucifer pretended he was not proud of how well Trixie had learned. Pretended it had nothing to do with him. Not a lie, a strategic omission. "Don't we all have more important things to do? Evildoers to punish?" he asked.

Trixie grinned as Chloe turned to frown at Lucifer. Quickly, while her mother wasn't looking, the child stuffed her winnings into her pocket. 

He flashed her a smile as he turned away to deal with the Detective's ire.


End file.
